Thanks for the quick reply. Maybe more detail of my problem will help. The antenna will rise one section. The second and third sections will not come up. I cannot even pull the sections up so maybe they are held/stuck by the plastic gear strip? I cannot get the mast piece off to clean or inspect ...

Your instructions for removal are great. But, now I need to reassemble it and I can't figure out just where to place the gear strip. Could you show or tell me just how to replace the gear strip>
Thanks. Half way there.